Long Island’s Nassau County has banned transgender athletes from competing in girls or women’s sports at all county run facilities via an executive order issued on Thursday. The order, effective immediately, was announced by Republican Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman and represents one of the latest restrictions in the United States on transgender athletes’ participation in sports based on their gender identities. According to ESPN, 23 states had passed laws limiting transgender athletes' ability to participate in school sports in line with their gender identity as of last August.
In signing the executive order, Blakeman enacted what is believed to be the first ban like it in the country. Sports teams using Nassau County’s facilities will have to acknowledge they will adhere to the new policy under the license or operating permit the teams have with the county, according to CNN coverage of Blakeman’s statements at the press conference. The order will effectively restrict all women and girls’ sports teams and leagues in Nassau County’s 100 ballfields and athletic facilities unless transgender athletes are prohibited. However, the order will not impact co-ed teams or teams in which women play against men.
“What we are saying here today with our executive order is that if a league or team identifies themselves or advertises themselves to be a girls or women’s league or team, then biological males should not be competing in those leagues,” Blakeman said in a news conference on Thursday.
The backlash from LGBTQ advocates was swift and unambiguous. “We are profoundly disappointed in Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman's announcement of an executive order aimed at banning transgender athletes from participating in sports teams that align with their gender identity," Dr. David Kilmnick, president and founder of the New York LGBT Network said in a statement to an ABC News affiliate. "This discriminatory move not only undermines the principles of inclusivity and fairness but also perpetuates harmful stereotypes and exclusion."
New York Attorney General Letitia James said they were considering legal options to stop Blakeman’s order. “This executive order is transphobic and deeply dangerous. In New York, we have laws that protect our beautifully diverse communities from hate and discrimination of any and every kind,” James said in a statement. “My office is charged with enforcing and upholding those laws, and we stand up to those who violate them and trespass on the rights of marginalized communities. We are reviewing our legal options.”
